Cametá, a historical little Amazonian town on the shores of the river Tocantins, is the birthplace of the scorching music known as 'Siriá'; a cross pollination between the music of the inhabitants of the quilombos, a Brazilian hinterland settlement founded by escaped slaves of African origins, and the indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest. It is a breathing, pulsing, emphatic beat, and the modernised version of this local music, created by Mestre Cupijó, has been igniting street parties and traditional festivals across the state of Pará in Northern Brazil for decades. NAnd at last in 2014, the combustible sound of Siriá will be celebrated internationally as the feverish, tropical sound of the summer!
Foretelling his talent to flow between cultures, Cupijó was named after a local river when he was born in 1936, into a family of musicians. His father, Mestre (Master) Vicente Castro, was also known as Mestre Sicudera, the musical director of Centennial Euterpe, one of Brazil´s oldest bands, founded in 1874. At 12, Cupijó started to play the clarinet. He also became proficient at the piano, mandolin and guitar, although the instrument that came to personify his sound was the alto saxophone.